What are quaaludes? Should you be worried they’ve been detected in Canberra?

Those who watch illicit substance markets know one thing: there’s no such thing as a truly new street drug.

Novel drugs are a bit like mayflies. They emerge, multiply and disappear, sometimes within months. But inevitably, they re-emerge for a new generation, causing long-term harm minimisation advocates to feel a mix of nostalgia and disappointment.

These were the emotions that shot around the lab at the Research School of Chemistry at The Australian National University (ANU) in September. Drug checkers operating Australia’s most advanced recreational drug checking service, CanTEST, had discovered quaaludes in a Canberra sample.

Some older readers, and aficionados of 1970s and ‘80s drug culture, might be familiar with quaaludes. But others would be forgiven for needing a quick explainer.

What actually is a quaalude?

Quaalude is a street name for drugs mainly containing methaqualone. In Australia, Quaaludes have also been called Mandrax, or ‘Mandies’. Quaaludes started their chemical life in the 1950s, when methaqualone was developed by Indian chemists to treat malaria.

Its discoverers noted its capacity as a ‘sedative hypnotic’, a class of drugs used to induce and/or maintain sleep. This class also includes the more widely known ketamine, when it is used in large doses.

At the time, drug companies were developing safer alternatives to highly potent and potentially dangerous sedatives, so they jumped aboard. They gave it the nickname ‘quaalude’– an abbreviation of ‘quiet interlude’.

But as is too often the case, these experts were quickly cut out of the loop. Without a patent protecting their discovery, pharmaceutical companies took over. Methaqualone was soon replicated all over the world. It first saw recreational use in the early 1960s, initially in Europe and Japan, and later the USA. By the 70s, quaaludes had entered street drug vernacular.

By 1971, it was estimated that 91 million doses had been prescribed, and they clearly weren’t all for medical purposes. This pattern continued until 1973, when the drug was placed on Schedule 2 of the United States’ Controlled Substances Act (the strictest controls apply to Schedule 1).

In response, ‘stress clinics’ were frantically established to ensure distribution could continue to meet demand.

Of course, talking in schedules, clinics, and prescriptions can make the situation hard to visualise. Talking plainly, anyone with US$100 and a telephone could get a ‘prescription’.

In 1983, Gene Haislip – the head of the US Drug Enforcement Agency had quaaludes placed on Schedule 1. This effectively removed the drug from legitimate medical circulation.

This wasn’t in isolation. In the early 1980s, the Reagan administration’s ‘war on drugs’ led to many new drugs being prohibited, and many penalties were toughened dramatically.

This approach spread from the US to the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia – where methaqualone is in the Therapeutic Goods Act’s Schedule 9, a class of prohibited substances which also includes lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and heroin.

In 1981, possessing quaaludes in Victoria carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines of up to $40,000 – around $200,000 in today’s money.

With such strict levels of prohibition in place, it was not long before an estimated 90 per cent of the methaqualone in the world had been made illegitimately.

When did quaaludes return to Canberra?

In September 2024, a member of the public submitted a sample to CanTEST expecting it to be a quaalude.

It was first analysed using Fourier-ransform Infrared spectroscopy – or FTIR .FTIR is a one of CanTEST’s primary methods of drug checking, and can be used to identify up to two components (that may be either drugs or filler substances) per sample.

When the sample was tested, the result came back as ‘uncertain’ for containing methaqualone, which should have been its active component. While ‘uncertain’ wasn’t conclusive, not returning ‘negative’ indicated that a psychoactive drug with a similar structure may have been present.

CanTEST collaborates with the ANU Research School of Chemistry to perform a range of advanced techniques, including FTIR, but also gas chromatography, coupled mass spectrometry, and crucially, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

It was only when the checkers applied these further tests that they identified the mystery compound as the novel psychoactive substance methylmethaqualone. Being very structurally similar to methaqualone, it almost certainly has a similar effect on users.

Why does this matter?

The lesson from the re-emergence of quaaludes is that once discovered, drugs, like viruses, are always out there somewhere.

It also demonstrates that drug-checking is vital to the safety of the Canberra community. People can overdose on quaaludes, and like all psychoactive substances, quaaludes can change a user’s behaviour in unpredictable and sometimes dangerous ways. Like other sedatives, they have been implicated in drug-facilitated sexual assault. They are also especially dangerous when mixed with high quantities of alcohol. Canberrans should know that they are in circulation.

Knowing this means that ACT police can be on the lookout for its traces in supply chains and in antisocial or dangerous behaviour. Paramedics can learn what their use looks like in patients. Lawmakers can consider how it should be scheduled and penalised in the future to minimise harm.

By detecting the novel methylmethaqualone in Canberra and warning the community about the presence and dangers of quaaludes, CanTEST and ANU have contributed to global knowledge about the illicit drug market and provided valuable help to those working hard to keep our city safe.